Machine for making wire articles.



No. 795,209. PATENTBD JULY 18, 1905. W. E. ELLIS & E. D. GHADWIOK. MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE ARTICLES.

APPLIUATION FILED JAN. 4, 1902.

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No. 795,209. PATENTED JULY 18, 1905. W. E. ELLIS & E. D. GHADWIGK.

MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 4. 1902.

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Patented July 18, 1905.

ATENT Orrica,

\VARREN EUGENE ELLIS. OF HAVERHILL, AND EVERETT D. OHADVVIOK,

OF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO ELLIS LAOER OOM- PANY, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE ARTICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 795,209, dated July 18, 1905.

Application filed January 4, 1902, Serial No. 88,382.

To IL// who/11 it many con/corn:

Be it known that we, WARREN EUGENE ELLIs, residing at Haverhill, in the county of Essex, and Evnun'r'r D. OIIADWIOK, residing at Brookline, in the county of Norfolk, State of l\lassaelmsetts, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Making Wire Articles, of which the following is a specilication.

Our invention relates to wire-working apparatus, and is intended to provide a machine for forming a straight piece of wire into a comb-like structure comprising any desired number of prongs connected'to one another at one end, such as is used in making the temporary fasteners for shoe-uppers shown and described in Letters Patent No. 774,659, granted November S, 19%, on the application of V. E. Ellis. The prongs or lingers of these fastener-blanks are usually three or four in nu m ber and are frequently required to be of progressively varying lengths, and our invention is herein shown and described as embodied in a machine which is adapted to produce blanks of the shape just referred to; but our invention may be employed for making blanks hav ing prongs or lingers of uniform length, if desired, and there is no limit to the number of' such lingers which may be formed on our machine from a single piece of wire.

Briefly described, our apparatus comprises two dies and means for moving the same with respect to each other, means for clamping a piece of wire to each die while they are separated, and means for giving said wire an initial bend between the dies, its further bending being produced by forcing said dies together and controlled by suitable devices in such manner that the closing of the dies dou bles the clamped portion of the wire between them and forces its two halves together to form a single prong or linger standing at the desired angle with respect to those portions of the wire which connect it with the adjacent finger or lingers, as will be hereinafter explained.

One feature of our invention relates to means for automatically varying the length of the successive lingers, to which end we pro vide an arrangement for arresting the separation of the dies at successively difierent points, whereby the length of wire between the points where it is clamped to the dies is correspondingly varied.

Other features of our invention relate to means whereby the automatic operation of the parts of the apparatus is secured and necessary or desirable adjustments are provided for.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure is a plan view of a machine made in accordance with our invention. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of a sliding die hereinafter described. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the line 0; :v in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the line ;1 ;1 Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a detail plan view illustrating the manner in which the spacing of the lingers of the blank is accomplished, and Fig. 7 is a plan view of a blank formed by the apparatus.

Referring to the drawings, 2 represents the base of the machine, said base having a flat top surface and being provided near one end with a lixed die, which is detachably secured thereto and preferably consists of a steel plate 3, the inner edge at of which forms the working surface of the die. This plate 3 may be set into a recess cut in the top of the base 2, with its edge 4 projecting above said base about the thickness of the wire to be used, and a groove 5 is preferably formed in the top surface of said plate, said groove being parallel to the edge l and located at a distance therefrom equal to the distance between two lingers of the Wire-blank or article to be formed and having a width equal to twice the thickness of the Wire to be used, for a purpose hereinafter set forth. The cooperating die is preferably carried by a plate 6, mounted to slide on the top of the base 2 between guides 7 and 8, which are provided with strips 9 and 10, overlapping the edges of the plate 6 and serving to hold the same in sliding contact with said base 2. The movable die proper may consist of a strip of hard steel 11, secured to the under side of the front or inner portion of'the plate 6, which is recessed to receive the same, as shown in Fig. 3, and is also cut away on its under side in front of said die 11 to leave a space between the plate 6 and the base 2 suliicient to receive freely the wire operated upon, and said plate 6 is also preferably provided with a forwardly-extending projection 12, having its under surface in the same plane with that of said plate in front of the die, for a purpose hereinafter described. The wire to be operated upon is inserted through a groove 13, cut in the under side of the plate 6, parallel with the direction of its sliding movement, and after passing through said groove it is carried across the space be tween the dies and clamped against the bottom of the die 3 by means such as a sliding block 14-, actuated by a cam-lever15, to which said block may be held. by means of a spring 16. The wire is also clamped to the die 11 by means such cam. 17, secured to the lower end of a rod 18, journaled in the plate 6 and provided with an operating-handle 19.

The sliding plate 6 is provided with means whereby it may be reciprocated to close and open the two dies, which means may consist of a hand-operated lever 20, pivoted to the base 2, as at 21, and connected to said plate by a link 22, the arrangement being preferably such that said lever and link will act as a toggle to increase the pressure exerted by the operator when the dies are finally forced together. in order to prevent the toggle from passing its dead-center, the die-closing movement of said lever 20 may be properly limited by providingit with a pin 23, arranged to strike against a stop 24, formed on the base 2, as shown.

In connection with the above parts we provide means for giving an initial bend in the plane of the top of the base 2 to that portion of the wire which is located between the dies when separated, and such means may consist of a pin 25, mounted to slide transversely to the wire through a guide '26 and arranged to engage the middle of said portion of the wire and bend it laterally when pushed inward. The pin 25 is actuated by means, such as a pivoted arm 27, connected to the outer end of said pin and provided with a spring 28 for throwing it away from the base 2, and thereby withdrawing said pin from the path of the plate 6 after the initial bend has been given to the wire.

The operation of the parts above described is as follows: A piece of wire 29 long enough to form a blank having the desired number of prongs or fingers is inserted at one end through the enlarged outer end 30 of the groove 13 and clamped to the separated dies 3 and 11, as above described. The pin 25 is then pushed inward a short distance, thereby bending the clamped portion of the wire slightly at its center, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the plate 6 is then forced by means of the lever 20 toward the fixed die 3. Inasmuch as the wire is clamped to this die and also to the moving die 11, it must evidently be bent by the movement of the latter die, and such bend.- ing movement must occur in the plane of the top surface of the base 2 along which the plate 6 slides, because, in the first place, the overlapping front edge of said plate tends to prevent the wire from leaving said plane, and in the second place the wire has already received an initial bend in said plane and therefore will tend to follow the direction of such original bending, this being the path of least resistance. The projection 12 also serves as an additional means for preventing the wire :from rising above said plane by passing over said wire and ultimately over the die 3, so that as the die 11 approaches said die 3 the portion of wire whichis bein bent is eonlined above and below and is lmally doubled between the parallel working edges of the dies, the

movement of the die 11 being continued until it is resisted by the double prong or finger 31 thus formed. The clamp 17 is then re leased and the plate (3 is moved away from the die 3 against a fixed stop, a portion of the unbent wire being thereby drawn through the groove 13. The elamping-block 1 1 is then released and the linger 31 just formed is moved to the left, referring to Fig. 1, and placed in the groove 5, the distance between the successive lingers being thereby determin ed. The

clamps 14C and 17 are then operated to secure the wire to the dies 3 and 11, and the operations above described are repeated until the piece of wire operated upon is exhausted or until a sulficient number of prongs or fingers 31 have been formed.

For the purpose of releasing the cam 17 automatically after a linger 31 has been formed we prefer to provide a spring-strip 32, which is adjustably secured at one end to the guide 8 by n'ieans, such as a screw 33, passing through a slot 3 1 in said strip, and is bent upward at its other end and provided with a beveled catch 35, located in the path of the handle 19, by nieans of which said cam is operated. The strip 32 is so adjusted that just as the sliding plate 6 reaches the limit of its movement to the left and finishes the bending of a linger the handle 19 will pass over the catch 35 and the latter will spring up behind said handle, whereupon upon the initial movement of the plate 6 in the reverse direction said handle will be caused to turn with respect to the plate, thereby releasing the clamp 17and permitting said plate to slide freely along the wire.

The machine shown in the drawings is adapted to form wire-blanks havinglingers of progrcssively-varying lengths, as shown in Fig. 7, and to this end it is provided with a variable stop mechanism arranged to arrest the plate (3 at a dilierent pointon each of its backward movements during the formation of a blank. As preferably constructed, this stop mechanism comprises a shaft 36, journaled behind the plate 6 and carrying the stop proper, which consists of a block 37, having arms 38 equal in number to the fingers of the wire-blank to be formed, which arms vary progressively in length by an amount equal totwice the difference between the lengths of the corresponding fingers to be formed. By turning the shaft 36 any one of these arms 38 may be presented in position to engage the plate 6 and arrest the backward movement thereof, so that by giving said shaft a step-bystep rotation, one step at each forward and backward movement of said plate. the backward movements of the latter will be arrested at different points, so that a correspondingly different amount of wire will be included between the clamps 14 and 17, with the result that when a finger is formed its length will differ from that of the adjacent finger or fingers by half the difference between the corresponding lengths' of wire taken up by the clamps, since said wire is doubled to form the finger. For rotating the shaft 36 we provide a bar 39, secured to the plate 6 and carrying at its rear end a pivoted catch 40, arranged to engage one tooth of a ratchet 41, rigidly secured to said shaft when the plate 6 is drawn backward and to pass by said ratchet when said plate is pushed forward, thus causing the movements of said plate to give the desired step-by-step rotation to the shaft 36 and block 37, the teeth of the ratchet being the same in number as the arms 38.

Inasmuch as the pin 25 should always engage the clamped portion of the wire at its center it becomes desirable to change the position of said pin laterally to correspond with the different lengths of wire taken up, and this is accomplished by mounting the guidingblock 26, which carries the pin 25, to slide in a horizontal slot 42, cut in the guide 8, the outer end of said pin being mounted to slide on a wire-guide 43, passing through the end of the pin and secured to the arm 27. The position of the block 26 is varied automatically by means, such as a cam 44, secured to one end of the shaft 36 and bearing against one end of said block 26, or preferably against a head 45, adjustably secured in said block by means of a set-screw 46, as shown. The cam 44 is cut to present distinct operative faces 47, corresponding in number to the arms 38 on the block 37 and progressively varying as to their distance from the shaft 36, but only by half the difference between the corresponding arms 38, and the head 45 is held against said cam by means of a spring 48, so that the block 26 is caused to follow said cam at all times.

In operation whenever the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 3, with the plate 6 against the shortest stop-arm 38, the distance between the dies 3 and 11 will be a maximum, and therefore the clamps 14 and 17 will take up a piece of wire sufiicient to make the longest finger of the wire-blank to be formed, and the block 26 will also be drawn by the spring 48 against the cam-face 47 having the least radius, said block being adjusted to bring the pin 25 opposite the center of that portion of the wire held between said clamps. After said portion of wire has been formed into a finger as above described the backward movement of the plate 6 will cause the catch 40 to engage the'ratchet 41 and give the shaft 36 a partial rotation, thus bringing the next longest stop-arm 38 into position to engage and arrest'the movement of said plate, and the cam-face 47 of next longest radius will simultaneously be brought to bear on the adjustable head of the block 26, thereby moving the pin 25 to the left half the distance by which the backward movement of the plate 6 has been diminished, so that said pin will still be located opposite the middle of the unbent portion of the wire now held between the clamps 14 and 17. By the next operation of the dies a finger having a somewhat less lengthuthan the one last formed will be obtained, and the continued operation of the apparatus will thus result in the production of as many fingers of different lengths as there are stop-arms on the block 37, the cam-faces 47 and the teeth on the ratchet 41 being of course kept equal in number and corresponding in position to said stop-arms.

The wire-blank shownin Fig. 7 not only has fingers of progressively-varying length, but also has said fingers set at an angle with respect to those portions of the wire which connect them, so that the blank as a whole is symmetrically tapered along both edges, this being desirable when the blank is used to form an upper fastener, such as above referred to. The fingers 31 of this blank may readily be given the desired angle with respect to the connecting portions when formed on our machine by forming the working edges of the dies 3 and'll at corresponding angles with respect to their lower ends, to which the wire is clamped, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6, and it will be evident that the lingers may be caused to make any required angle with each other and with said connecting portions by suitably forming the working edges and lower ends of the dies.

It will be evident that our invention is not limited to the employment-of mechanism for progressively varying the lengths of the fingers of the wire-blanks which are produced, although such mechanism forms an important feature of our invention. The gist of'our invention, however, resides in means whereby a piece of wire of twice the length of the finger required is clamped to two relatively movable dies given an initial bend, and so confined during the approaching movement of said dies that it is finally doubled between them, and thus formed into a finger making arethe desired angle with the connecting wire l portions at its base. So far as we are aware we are the first to produce a machine operating in this manner, and the apparatus herein shown and described may be considerably vavied without departing from our invention.

We claim as our invention I 1. In a wire-workingmachine, the combination of relatively movable dies and means for operating the same, means for clamping a length of wire to said dies, means for giving said wire an initial bend, and guides arranged to confine the bending of the wire to the desired plane.

2. ,l n a wire-workingmachine, the combination of a base, a fixed die, amovable plate carrying a cor'iperating die, means for actuating said plate, means for clampingalength of wire to said dies, means for engaging said wire between said dies and giving it an initial bend prior to the operation thereof, and guides arranged to confine the bending of the wire to the desired plane.

3. In a wire-working machine, the combination of a base, a lixed die, a movableplate carryiug a cooperating die, means for actuating said plate, means for clamping a length of wire to said dies, means forgiving the wire an initial bend, guides arranged to confine the bending of the wire to the desired plane, and means for automatically unclamping said wire from the movable die upon the commencement of the backward movement thereof.

4. inawire-working machine, thecombination of a base, a fixed die, a plate 6 sliding on said base and carrying a coif'iperating die, and also provided with a projection 12, means for actuating said plate, means for clamping a length of wire between said dies, a sliding pin arranged to engage said length of wire at its center, and means for actuating said pin.

In a wire-working machine, the combination with a sliding plate carrying a die, of a clamp for securing a wire to said die and provided with an operating-arm, and an adjustable strip provided with a catch arranged to engage said arm upon the backward movement of said plate.

(5. In a wire-working machine,a die having a working face against which a length of wire is doubled, and provided with a groove back of said face having twice the width of the wire and adapted to receive a linger previously bent, the length of said groove being parallel with the working face of the die, substantially as described.

7. In a wire-working machine, a movable plate (3 undercut at its forward edge and car rying a die 11., said plate being also provided with a wire-receiving groove, and means for clamping a wire against the end of said die.

8. In a wire-w0rking machine, the combination of relatively movable dies and means for operating the same, means for clamping a length of wire to said dies, and means for progressively varying the opening movement of said dies.

9. In a wire-working machine, the combination of a base, a fixed die, a sliding plate carrying a crx'iperating die and means for actuating the same, means for clamping a length of wire to said dies, a stop having progressively" varying stop-arms arranged to limit successively the backward movements of said plate, and means operative with said plate for actuating said step.

10. In a wire-working machine, the combination with a sliding die and means for actuating the same, of a stop mechanism comprising a shaft, a block secured thereto and having stop-arms of progressively-varying lengths, and means operative with said die for giving said shaft a step-by-step rotation.

11. In a wire-working machine, the combination with a base and a fixed die, of a sliding plate 6 carrying a cof'merating die, a shaft located in the rear of said plate and carrying a block having stop-arm's of progressivelyvarying lengths, a ratchet secured to said shaft, and a bar secured to said plate and provided at its free end with a by-pass catch arranged to operate said ratchet.

19.. In a wire-w rking machine, the combination with relatively movable dies, means for operating the same, and means for progressively varying the opening movement of said dies, of means for clamping a length of wire to said dies, a pin arranged to give said wire an initial bend, and means for laterally :uljusting said pin to correspond with the variable separation of the dies.

13. In a wire-working machine, the combination of a base, a fixed die, a sliding plate carrying a coiiperating die and means for actuating the same, means for variably limiting the opening movements of said latter die, a block 2f) carrying a pin 25, means for actuating said pin, and means operative with said plate for varying the position of said block laterally.

14:. ln a wire-working machine, the combination of a base provided with a fixed d ie,a sliding plate carrying a cor'ipcrating die and m ans for actuating the same, means for clamping a length of wire to said die, a shaft 36 carrying a variable stop and means for actuating said shaft, a block 26 carrying a pin 25 and having an adjustable head, and a cam secured to said shaft and arranged to engage said head.

15. In a wire-working machine, the combination of a fixed die and means for clamping a wire to one end thereof, the working face of the die l eing inclined with respect to said end, a sliding die having its working face parallel to that of the fixed die, means for clampinga wire to one end of the sliding die, and means for actuating said sliding die.

16. In a wire-working machine, the combination of a fixed die and means for clamping a wire to one end thereof, the working face of the die being inclined with respect to said end,

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a sliding die having its working face parallel to that of the fixed die and means for clamping a wire to one end of said sliding die, means for actuating the latter die, and astop for va, riably limiting the opening movements thereof, a pin arranged to give said wire an initial bend between the dies, and means for adjusting said pin laterally to correspond with the action of said stop.

17. In a wire-working machine, the combination of a base carrying a fixed die 3, guides 7 and 8, a plate 6 arranged to slide between the same and carrying a die 11, means for actuating said plate comprising a lever 20 and link 22, clamps l4 and 17 for securing a length of wire to said dies respectively, a pin 25 mounted to engage said wire midway between the dies, and an arm 27 for actuating said pin.

18. In a wire-working machine, the combination of a base having a flat guiding-surface, relatively movable dies having their working faces adjacent to said surface and means for operating the same, means for clamping a length of wire to said dies, means for giving said wire an initial bend, and means for coning a working face against which a length ofwire may be doubled, said die being provided with a groove back of said face and at a distance therefrom equal to the distance between two doubled lengths of wire in the article formed, and means for clamping a wire against one end of said die, between said groove and working face.

In testimony whereof we have hereuntosubscribed our names this 1st day of January,

WARREN EUGENE ELLIS. EVERETT D. CHADIVICK. Witnesses:

RUBY M. BANFIELD, JOSEPH T. BRENNAN. 

